Most of the United States population is uneducated about the political system. Most believe that congress should have things done fast and in a fashionable manner. This is why Americans hate the Congress as an institution. In reality congress is the complete opposite then what most believe. They believe that congress is operating slowly and without purpose, but that is the way they should be working it is the only way to insure efficiency. Americans love their individual congressperson simply because they mirror their districts feelings. The congressperson do what they can to push their constituents opinion in the open, also they share the same views as their district. The congressperson shares the popular view of the district. This is another reason they hate the congress as a whole, because they do not share the opinion of the individual district. Lastly, another reason why Americans love there congressperson is pork barrel legislation. In these types of bills other pieces of legislation is put into it to make it more appealing to others so they will vote on it to pass.

Congress is organized to facilitate a goal of re-election. One way members get re-elected to congress is by name recognition. If the person is already in office, then they have been heard of. Since the person already has experience with the job people will associate them with being the right person for the job. Since no one knows anything about the other person running they will typically go with the person in office. Another reason is money. The person in office already has a lot of campaign money. The more money means more yard signs, commercials, and interviews for publicity.

Lawmaking is difficult in the congress. One reason is because the bill that becomes a law affects our lives in many ways. For example, a bill that would ban the use of alcohol completely is being proposed by the congressman. For the bill to become a law it must go through many steps in both the...

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...﻿An Overview of Congress
Yvette M. Yancey
POL/110
Abstract
This paper will discuss the differences between the House and the Senate. We will also talk about the powers granted to Congress under the Constitution. I will explain the organization of political parties and leadership roles such as Speaker of the House. Finally we will look at the eight steps involved in a bill becoming a law.
An Overview of CongressCongress is one of the three branches of government in this country. It is the legislative branch which makes the laws. The executive branch implements and enforces the laws and the judicial branch interprets them. When the congress was created it was split into two separate entities, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Together these two groups of elected officials determine the laws we live by.
House versus Senate
There are several differences between the House and the Senate. The House of Representatives is larger having 435 members in comparison to the 100 member Senate. They also have a shorter term in office lasting only 2 years, while the Senate serves a 6 year term. The House has more rules but their power is less evenly distributed. The Senate has a broader constituency and are more reliant upon staffers. Finally the House is more partisan and has less media coverage. Together the two groups balance one another out regardless of their differences.
Power of Congress1
The...

...The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. There are 535 total members in congress. The framers viewed the legislative branch as the most powerful branch. When congress meets its called a session and this happens once a year. We got the bicameral legislature from the great compromise.
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the United States Congress (bicameral legislature). It is frequently referred to as the House. The house of reps has 435 members in it. They are determined by the state’s population. The representatives serve two year terms.
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States. There are 100 members total in the senate. Each state has two senators and they serve 6 years.
The leadership of the House of Representatives and US Senate are congressional leaders. The leader of the House of Reps is the Speaker of the House. The leader is chosen from majority vote of the house. These leaders jobs are to name members to committees, sign bills, and lead floor debates. The leaders of the senate are the President pro temp and the Vice president. The jobs of the floor leaders is to carry out decisions of their party, steer floor actions of their party and help gain voters for bills. The party...

...
What Does Congress Do?
In order to best explain what Congress does, we can use the analytical lenses of constitutionalism, institutionalism and behavioralism. Before we can discuss what Congress does, it is important to understand the basic make up of our legislative body. We can view the basic makeup of Congress within the view of Constitutionalism.
The United States Constitution provides the structure of our legislative body. It gives us a bicameral legislature. This means that we have two chambers; the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Constitution contains rules that give the basic guidelines on how we elect our representatives, how long they will serve and the outline of how the legislative process works.
To arrive at Congress, one must be elected by his constituents. In order to be eligible to run for Congress, a candidate must be at least 25 years old for a House seat and 30 for a Senate seat. Candidates must be a U.S. citizen and must be a resident in the state in which they are running.
The size of Congress – 535 members – is set by the Constitution. There are 100 seats in the Senate and 435 seats in the House. Each state has two senators and at least one representative. The apportionment of the remainder of the seats in the House is based on the population as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau. Once elected to Congress, a...

...
CONGRESSCongress is our nation’s first branch of government, even in the constitution the first thing wrote is about Congress. Article I section I states “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.” Congress has the ultimate authority for enacting new laws. A Bicameral legislature is howcongress is organized it is made up of two separate chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The H.O.R are elected by the people of the United States and each state gets at least 1 seat in the House and based upon the population of the state that determines how many seats a state occupies. In the Senate seats are equally represented, two senators per state. Congress is a very complex institution and the bulk of work on legislation consists of what members do in committees, congress deals with a lot of things in different areas so in order for a member to become an expert in the subject area and manage workloads congress relies heavily on a committee system. The four types of congressional committees are standing committees, select committees, conference committees, and joint committees.
A standing committee is a permanent committee that exists in both the House and the Senate it focuses on public policy, labor, foreign affairs, and...

...The Congress Worksheet
Respond to the following prompts in your own typed document.
Your responses should be in your own words (don't simply copy and paste!).
You may include the prompts themselves in your submission.
Submit your answers to turnitin.com as a word document by 7:25am on Friday, 12/4.
1. List four enumerated powers granted to Congress by the Constitution (Article I, Section 8)
a.
b.
c.
d.
2. The implied power of Congress comes from the "necessary and proper clause" which is also referred to as the elastic
clause. Cite two historical examples of this power.
a.
b.
3. Explain the significance of Marbury v. Madison (1803)
4. Explain the significance of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
5. How many members are there in the House of Representatives and Senate and what are their terms of office ?
House
Senate
6. Explain the main reasons why Congressional incumbents almost always win re-election.
7. Describe the typical demographic characteristics of members of Congress.
8. List three main powers of the House of Representatives.
a.
b.
c.
9. List two main powers of the Senate.
a.
b.
10. Describe four examples of Congressional oversight.
a.
b.
c.
d.
11. Explain the primary function of each of the following.
Standing Committees
a. Banking
b. Foreign Affairs
c. Energy
d. Governmental Affairs
e. Appropriations
Sub-Committees
Joint Committees
Select Committees
Conference Committees
House Ways and Means Committee
House...

...﻿DISCUSS THE VIEW THAT COMMITTEES ARE THE REAL POWERHOUSE OF THE CONGRESS
It was significant that the recent government shutdown was ultimately resolved by a conference committee with members from both the House and the Senate. This would suggest that congressional committees have a key role to play in the Congress. However, the rise of the Tea Party Caucus would suggest that other factors can be regarded as the key sources of power in theCongress.
The importance of congressional committees is clearly demonstrated by an examination of the legislative process. Thousands of bills are proposed each year but the fact of the matter is a mere 5% are successful. This failure rate is largely explained by the work of congressional committees. Committee Chairmen are very powerful. They can “pigeonhole” a bill which effectively means a bill will die or the committee can amend and add other bills to the initial proposal changing the original beyond all recognition. “Earmarks” are added during the committee stage which relate to additional spending clauses being added during this committee stage. The House Rules Committee timetables all bills for debate on the floor of the chamber and consequently has a critical role to play in determining whether a bill will succeed or fail. Similarly the Appropriations Committees in the House and Senate determine spending limits on government which means they have a crucial role to play in both the...

...﻿The United States Congress, which is made up of two houses, is a
. d. bicameral legislature.
4. The standing committees of each house are controlled by
d. the majority party.
This group specializes in a subcategory of its standing committee's responsibility.
a. subcommittee
The House of Representatives and the Senate combined have ________ members with full voting privileges.
Your Answer:
535
An individual senator can exercise tremendous power by filibustering,
Your Answer:
unless three-fifths of the senators vote to cut her or him off.
A committee that is established on a temporary basis is called a/an ________ committee.
Your Answer:
select
Committee chairs in the House are
selected by House leaders in the majority party.
Over half of all Americans approve of the way Congress is handling its job. approve of the way the representative from your district is handling his or her job. III) prefer divided government.
Correct Answer:
III
Most bills introduced in Congress
die.
A conference committee is where
members of both houses meet to iron out differences between their versions of a bill.
The standing committees of each house are controlled by
d. the majority party.
The presiding officer of the House of Representatives is the
. d. Speaker.
Senators are elected for
b. six-year terms.
This committee is set up when the House and Senate have passed different versions of the same...

...Umipig, James Edward L. Narrative Report About The Recent Y4iT
BSIT - IIIA
“Y4iT”
Last September 19-21, 2011, we went to Manila (particularly Quezon City) for a seminar at the same time for a field trip. It was exhilarating to visit Manila once again, and the fact that we are going to one of the most famous universities here in the Philippines only put that excitement ten notches higher. However, the fact that we are there not only to stroll around but to learn was the foremost goal of the visit.
The Philippine Youth Congress in Information Technology, also commonly known as “Y4iT,” is an annual event held at the University of the Philippines, Diliman Campus. In fact, it is now on its 9th time and the theme for this year is “Y4iT: boot-up! connect! converge!” The UP Information Technology Training Center (UPITTC) arranged the said event and was attended by the participants from others schools.
Here alone in our institution, more than a hundred students participated in the said event. Most of them are 3rd year students, while the other ones are 2nd year and 1st year students. Since the populace of CIT is greater in the main campus, more of the participants are from here while the rest came from Tagudin Campus. Five instructors here in ISPSC main campus and three more from Tagudin came also to accompany the participants.
When we arrived in UP, we were amazed by the ambiance before us. The theatre alone could support more than...